Leadership Resources

Books by Director Rev. Dr. Daniel Vestal

This Treasure Within (2022)

This Treasure Within is a celebration of the loving and transformational presence of Christ in the life and ministry of Daniel Vestal. Part historical record, part reflection on contemporary issues, and part spiritual autobiography, this compelling memoir offers important insights into the contours of a social and cultural landscape in one segment of the Baptist faith tradition. By showing how he inherited and inhabited that tradition, only to have it deconstructed and reconstructed, Vestal points to how the presence of Christ can illumine not only one life, but all lives.
Purchase Book Here: https://www.helwys.com/sh-books/this-treasure-within/

Exemplars (2016)
Edited by Daniel Vestal and Libby Allen

Who Do Deacons Need to Be? What Do Deacons Need to Know? What Do Deacons Need to Do? These three questions form the basis for Exemplars: Deacons as Servant and Spiritual Leaders. They are designed to encourage robust conversation within diaconates as well as between deacons, clergy, and other laity. All of us grow spiritually as we listen and speak to one another with open minds and loving hearts. For deacons to reach their full potential as spiritual leaders, thoughtful and prayerful conversation must happen.

This workbook was born from years of pastoral experience and a growing conviction that congregational renewal must include lay renewal. Nearly every Baptist church has a diaconate, so it seems reasonable that if lay renewal is to happen, it must include deacon renewal. Exemplars can be helpful as a study guide for an individual deacon or in a small group or retreat setting where deacons study together, hold one another accountable, and offer support for one another as they seek to be exemplars of Christ and servants of Christ’s church.

Written by veteran pastors and church leaders Guy Sayles, Michael Smith, and Carol Younger.

Purchase Book Here: https://www.helwys.com/sh-books/exemplars/

Being the Presence of Christ (2008)

Do you long to make a difference in the world? Learn how to be Christ’s presence. As Christians, we can continually embody Jesus Christ—be the presence of Christ—and we have the power to transform ourselves, our society, and the world.

The challenge in becoming the presence of Christ is that many of our prejudices and patterns of living will need to change. The hope is knowing that such transformation is possible.

Daniel Vestal says, “I write this book as one who has lived most of my life as a Christian. Though I have had my intellectual struggles and personal struggles, I have never left the Christian faith. My experience has led me to ask, ‘What is the really good news that the Christian Gospel claims to possess and proclaim?’ I seek to offer my voice as a witness to this Gospel as I understand it.”

In this book you will find Vestal’s perspective on these topics:

Find out how to be the presence of Christ, and make a difference in this needy world.

Purchase Book Here: https://store.upperroom.org/product/being-the-presence-of-christ